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Optical Fibre

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Optical Communications

Part of the book series: Macmillan New Electronics Series ((NE))

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Abstract

In most optical communication links, it is the optical fibre that provides the transmission channel. The fibre consists of a solid cylinder of transparent material, the core, surrounded by a cladding of similar material. Light waves propagate down the core in a series of plane wavefronts, or modes; the simple light ray path used in elementary optics is an example of a mode. For this propagation to occur, the refractive index of the core must be larger than that of the cladding, and there are two basic structures which have this property: step-index and graded-index fibres. Of the step-index types, there are multi-mode, MM, fibres (which allow a great many modes to propagate) and single-mode, SM, fibres (which only allow one mode to propagate). Although graded-index fibres are normally MM, some SM fibres are available.

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Bibliography and References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Polytechnic of Huddersfield, UK

    M. J. N. Sibley

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  1. M. J. N. Sibley
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© 1990 M. J. N. Sibley

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Sibley, M.J.N. (1990). Optical Fibre. In: Optical Communications. Macmillan New Electronics Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20718-3_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20718-3_2

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-333-47513-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-20718-3

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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